Small-Sat-Ladar Final Report: FY18 Integrated Systems Line-Supported Program

Abstract

Airborne 3D imaging ladars such as ALIRT and MACHETE have demonstrated operational utility in Afghanistan and in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. They have been used for mapping (Afghanistan is, perhaps, the best mapped country in the world.), detecting objects under foliage and camouflage, route planning, change detection, determining vehicle accessibility, identifying helicopter landing zones, and supporting planning for special-forces operations. Extending 3D imaging to space would provide similar capabilities for denied territory. A problem with space systems, of course, is that they can be very large and costly. The objective of the study described in this report was to develop a small-sat-ladar concept that has good performance but reasonably low cost. This study was funded by the Integrated Systems portion of the MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) Line. It was conducted from FY17 through FY18.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 04, 2019
Accession Number
AD1098990

Entities

People

  • C. A. Primmerman

Organizations

  • MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Change Detection
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Earth Orbits
  • Efficiency
  • Electric Propulsion
  • Focal Planes
  • Hall Effect
  • Hall Thrusters
  • Integrated Systems
  • Ion Thrusters
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Optical Fiber Lasers
  • Optics
  • Orbits
  • Propulsion Systems
  • Radiation
  • Simulations
  • Solar Panels
  • Space Systems
  • Spacecraft
  • Thrusters

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Computer Vision.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites
  • Space - Space Objects